Michigan State men's basketball will play Arizona on Thanksgiving Day
Michigan State men's basketball will face off against Arizona on Thanksgiving Day in a neutral court matchup between the two heavyweight programs. The Spartans and Wildcats will play one another at 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on Nov. 23 at the Acrisure Arena in Palm Desert, California, with the game being broadcast on FOX.
The 10,000 seat arena in the desert outside of Palm Springs announced Monday morning it will play host to "The Acrisure Classic" between the two teams and is set to follow the Detroit Lions' annual Thanksgiving Day game, this year against the Green Bay Packers. Tickets will go on sale on Wednesday, May 17 at 1 p.m. ET.
MSU head coach Tom Izzo hinted at the matchup in his end-of-season press conference last month. The 2023-2024 contest will be the sixth time Izzo has played the Wildcats, and the eighth meeting all-time for the programs in a series that dates back to Jan. 2, 1947. Michigan State holds a 2-5 record and Izzo has gone 2-3 versus Arizona.
In the most recent matchups, Arizona prevailed 65-63 in the Armed Forces Classic on Nov. 11, 2016 in Honolulu, Hawaii. Michigan State won the prior two meetings: a thrilling 74-71 overtime win Nov. 23, 2005 in the Maui Invitational and a 74-60 victory on Dec. 15, 2001 in East Lansing on Dec. 15, 2001.
Both teams are coming off strong campaigns in 2022-2023. Arizona finished second in the Pac-12 regular season standings and earned a conference tournament title before falling as the No. 2-seed to No. 15-seeded Princeton in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Michigan State advanced to the Sweet 16 as the No. 7-seed before falling to Kansas State in overtime.
Arizona and Michigan State are projected to open the season in the top-25, per early pundit predictions. The Spartans are ranked as high as number four in some projections and Arizona is in the top-25.
As for the host arena in California for 2023's matchup between the two programs, it will mark the first college basketball game and just the second basketball game ever for the venue that opened in December 2022. It is home of the American Hockey League's Coachella Valley Firebirds, an affiliate of the NHL's Seattle Kraken, and is owned by Greg Williams, the CEO of Acrisure, which is an insurance company based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Williams is a generous donor to MSU and well known by Izzo.
________________________________________________________________________________________
Discuss this article in our premium forums by clicking here.
You can also follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
For video content, including our Red Cedar Radar podcast, find us on YouTube and consider subscribing.